Suu Kyi’s Party Declares Landslide as Myanmar Opens Up

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is surrounded by supporters and journalists as she visits a polling station in Kawhmu, Myanmar on April 1, 2012. Photographer: Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images

April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar dissident Aung San Suu Kyi’s
party said it is on pace to win every seat it contested in by-elections yesterday that may prompt the U.S. and European Union
to lift sanctions and end the country’s global isolation.

The National League for Democracy won 43 of the 44 seats it
competed for and leads in the vote count for the remaining
district, spokesman Nyan Win said, giving it representation in
the 664-member Parliament that will still be dominated by
President Thein Sein’s party. The party didn’t field a candidate
for one of the 45 legislative seats up for grabs.

“What is important is not how many seats we have won,
although of course we are extremely gratified that we have won
so many, but the fact that the people are so enthusiastic about
participating in the democratic process,” Suu Kyi told several
hundred people at her party’s headquarters today in Yangon. “We
hope that this will be the beginning of a new era.”

The vote may open the door for the end of sanctions that
prevent companies from General Electric Co. to Standard
Chartered Plc from investing in the country of 64 million people
bordering China and India. Thein Sein has moved to modernize
Myanmar’s political and economic system since taking power a
year ago, including a managed float of its currency set to take
effect yesterday.

‘Long Process’

“It’s the beginning of a long process for Myanmar to join
the Asian century,” said Douglas Clayton, founder and chief
executive officer of Cambodia-based Leopard Capital, who plans
to raise $100 million for a fund to invest in Myanmar once
sanctions are lifted. “There will be very little reason to
maintain sanctions after this election is accepted.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visited the
country formerly known as Burma in December, congratulated those
who took part in the by-elections while cautioning that reforms
could yet unravel. American sanctions ban investment in Myanmar
and imports from the country, restrict money transfers, freeze
assets and target jewelry with gemstones originating in the
nation. The EU bans weapons sales and mineral imports.

“It’s too early to know what recent progress means and
whether it will be sustained,” Clinton told reporters in
Istanbul yesterday. “There are no guarantees about what lies
ahead for the people of Burma, but after a day responding to a
brutal dictator in Syria who would rather destroy his own
country than let it move toward freedom it is heartening to be
reminded that even the most repressive regimes can reform and
even the most closed societies can open.”

House Arrest

Hundreds of supporters danced, sang and cheered outside the
National League for Democracy’s Yangon headquarters last night
as party officials displayed results on an electronic billboard.
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest and was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle, boycotted a
2010 election that ended five decades of direct military rule.

“We hope that all other parties that took part in the
elections will be in a position to cooperate with us to create a
genuinely democratic atmosphere in our nation,” Suu Kyi said
today, adding that the party will meet with winning candidates
and issue a comprehensive report on the elections later.

Official results have yet to be released. In 2010, they
were announced several days after the election. Thein Sein’s
ruling party and the military will still control more than 80
percent of parliamentary seats.

Myanmar invited a limited number of election monitors and
journalists from the U.S., EU and neighboring countries. The by-elections “are a key moment in national reconciliation and
should allow a substantial review of EU policy vis-a-vis
Myanmar,” Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said
in a March 28 statement.

‘Big Stick’

“It’s incumbent on the international community and
particularly the countries that have been imposing sanctions to
think about how to keep up the momentum and encourage change,”
said Jim Della-Giacoma, Southeast Asia project director for the
International Crisis Group, a policy research organization.
“Now is not the time to keep the big stick waving in the air.”

Myanmar’s political opening is moving in parallel with
efforts to rewrite investment laws and unify multiple exchange
rates that impede trade. The country moved to a managed float of
its currency yesterday, scrapping a 35-year fixed rate to help
grow the economy, according to the central bank.

“Moving to this managed float will bring a lot more
stability,” said Andrew Rickards, chief executive officer of
Singapore-listed Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd., which develops
properties in Myanmar and has seen its shares rise almost
sixfold in the past year. “It will mean everybody is on the
same page,” he told Bloomberg Television today.

Honda Interested

Rich in natural gas, gold and gems, Myanmar represents one
of Asia’s last untapped frontier markets, attracting investors
such as Jim Rogers, the chairman of Rogers Holdings, who
predicted a global commodities rally in 1999. Myanmar’s opening
is “a game-changer,” Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch
said in a March 29 research note.

Honda Motor Co. is interested in building a motorcycle
plant in Myanmar, Hiroshi Kobayashi, president and chief
executive officer of Asian Honda Motor Co., told reporters in
Thailand on March 31. The decision will depend on circumstances
in the country and international consensus, he said.

Suu Kyi, 66, remains a focal point of global perceptions
about Myanmar. She has met a stream of visitors to her lakeside
home in recent months, including Clinton and U.K. Foreign
Secretary William Hague.

‘The Lady’

Known in Myanmar simply as “The Lady,” Suu Kyi gave her
first political speech in 1988 when she returned to the country
to care for her ailing mother after years of living overseas.
She was first detained prior to 1990 elections in which her
party won about 80 percent of seats for a committee to draft a
new constitution. The military rejected the results.

Suu Kyi refused to accept an army-drafted constitution in
2008 and boycotted an election two years later in which Thein
Sein’s party won a majority. A meeting between Suu Kyi and the
president in August led to her party rejoining the political
system.

In a 90-minute briefing on March 30, Suu Kyi said her party
will accept the results if the will of the people is “fairly
reflected.” She called irregularities during the campaign
including vote-buying, incorrect voter lists and an incident
where a candidate was almost hit with a betel nut “beyond what
is acceptable for democratic selection.”

Military on Sidelines

Suu Kyi has appeared on state-run television and traveled
throughout the country during the campaign period, falling ill
on two occasions from exhaustion. Tens of thousands of people
have greeted her at campaign stops around the country.

“We’re happy with what we’ve seen,” Chheang Vun, who is
observing the election for Cambodia, said in Kawhmu district
March 31. “Myanmar is now very different. In the three days
we’ve been here, we have not seen military or police.”

Elections in three constituencies in Kachin state, home to
a violent ethnic rebellion, were suspended due to security
concerns. Myanmar’s army has displaced 75,000 ethnic Kachins
since last June in an area along the Chinese border, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a March 20 report, underscoring
the challenges that remain for Thein Sein as he aims to make
peace with political rivals.

Thein Sein called on all political parties to accept the
results in a March 24 speech published in the state-run New
Light of Myanmar.

“Things have to change,” Thilsa Hla Htway, a journalist
for 23 years, said last night in Yangon as Suu Kyi’s party
celebrated. “It cannot stop now.’